Presidium

Artur Badylak is a graduate of the Faculty of Mining and Geoengineering at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. He has been dealing with issues related to methane from coal mines for over 25 years. He gained experience in Zaklad Odmetanowania Kopalń ZOK Sp. z o.o., with which he was associated until 2019. Author of more than 150 projects in the field of methane drainage, including implementation projects. Author and co-author of numerous articles and papers on demethanation issues.

Currently executing tasks in the area of increasing the efficiency of demethanation and reduction of methane emissions to the atmosphere in JSW S.A. plants. Responsible for the Company's activities in the field of methane extraction and its economic use for the production of electricity and heat. Member of the Coal Mine Methane Task Group appointed by Euracoal to work on the European Union methane strategy. The chairman of The International Center of Excellence on Coal Mine Methane (ICE-CMM Poland).

Marek Borowski, Professor at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Resource Management, Department of Environmental Engineering. 

• Research area includes environmental engineering, in particular ventilation and air conditioning in underground mines and tunnels.
• He has experience in project management, transfer of R&D results to industry and in securing national and international collaborations. 
• He performs expert reports for companies and government institutions as well as research projects. 
• He is PRINCE 2 certified. 
• Expert/Reviewer - National Centre for Research and Development - NCBiR and Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange - NAWA. 
• Member of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe of the Group of Experts on Coal Mine Methane and Just Transition. 
• Head of Postgraduate Studies in Ventilation and Air Conditioning for Underground Mines and Tunnels. 
• Author of 10 monographs and 250 scientific articles

Janusz Jureczka (PhD) is a geologist, a graduate of the Faculty of Earth Sciences at the University of Silesia in Katowice. Since 1983 he has been working at the Polish Geological Institute, Upper Silesian Branch in Sosnowiec, and has been the director of the branch since 2015. He is a specialist in the geology of hard coal deposits and coal bed methane. He was the manager of a number of projects concerning the coal and methane resource base, which are part of the improvement of Poland's energy security and the diversification of energy resource sources.

Since 2012, he has been dealing with the issue of pre-exploitation methane capture, in an innovative approach not used in Polish mines so far; among others, he was the manager of a project under which he was involved in the development of the coal and methane resource base. Among others, he was a manager of a project under which a set of directional boreholes was drilled in an active coal mine with the application of hydraulic fracturing for the first time in Poland (Wesoła PIG-1 and PIG-2H boreholes); he was also a manager of a project implemented together with PGNiG, under which industrial quantities of coal-bed methane were obtained in the Gilowice-1 and Gilowice-2H boreholes for the first time in Poland (Geo-Methane Project). He actively contributes to the international arena by promoting Polish technical thought regarding the extraction of methane from mines, aimed at improving work safety and profitability of mines, as well as reducing harmful methane emissions into the atmosphere. Since 2016, he has been a member of the International Methane Expert Group, and since 2017. - presidium of the International Centre of Excellence on Methane from Mines in Poland, operating under the aegis of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Author or co-author of 168 specialised publications and about 120 archival studies.

Piotr Kasza (PhD) - Professor at the Oil and Gas Institute (INiG-PIB)
Deputy Director for the Exploitation of Hydrocarbon Reserves at the Oil and Gas Institute of the National Research Institute. Member of the Presidium of the International Centre of Excellence for Methane from Mines representing INiG-PIB.
He is a graduate of the AGH University of Science and Technology, where he obtained his doctoral degree in technical sciences and the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, where he obtained his postdoctoral degree in the discipline of environmental engineering, mining and power engineering.
His entire professional career has been associated with the oil and gas industry. He specialises in topics related to stimulation of hydrocarbon production. He is the author and co-author of dozens of scientific articles published nationally and internationally and of monographs . Co-author of several patents awarded at international invention fairs (e.g. in Canada, China, Korea, Romania). Co-inventor of mining stimulation technologies implemented in industry. Also employed at PGNiG S.A. from 2013 to 2021, most recently as Manager of the Gilowice Project, related to pre-excavation coal bed methane (CBM).
Active member of many national and international industry engineering associations (SPE, SCA, SITPNiG).

Zbigniew Lubosik (PhD) is a graduate of the Faculty of Mining and Geology at the Silesian University of Technology. He has been involved with the Central Mining Institute in Katowice and the mining industry for 27 years. He is currently Deputy Director for Geoengineering and Industrial Safety and Director of the Barbara Experimental Mine. After graduating from the Faculty of Mining and Geology at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, he joined the Central Mining Institute in 1995, where he obtained his doctoral degree in technical sciences in 2009. Since the beginning of his professional career, he has dealt with issues related to the design of mining operations, selection of mine workings, assessment of the effectiveness of mining projects, project management and issues related to natural hazards, including methane hazards and coal bed de-methanation and the economic use of methane. Expert of the Higher Mining Authority in the field of anchor lining, shaft lining and rock bounce hazard. Member of the Mining Commission of the Katowice Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences, member of the Mining Economics and Organisation Section of the Mining Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences and of the EURACOAL Technical Research Committee.

Author and co-author of monographs and dozens of articles and papers in Poland and abroad. Coordinator and member of teams carrying out in several national and international research projects under: National Centre for Research and Development, international agreements, Research Fund for Coal and Steel, EUROSTARS fund and EU Framework Programmes. Author and co-author of several patent applications and protection rights for utility models. Developed inventions have received many awards and prizes in national and international competitions. Since 2017, he represents GIG in the work of the Bureau of the International Centre of Excellence for Methane from Mines operating at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Grzegorz Plonka (PhD) is a graduate of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Faculty of Mining with a specialisation in Technical Exploitation of Deposits. He also completed postgraduate studies in management and psychology of influence at the Higher School of Management and Banking in Krakow. In 2002, he obtained a doctoral degree in mining aerology at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. He started his professional career in 2001 at the Wesoła mine in Mysłowice, and later at the Mysłowice-Wesoła mine, where he passed through all the levels of his mining career - from trainee to manager of the ventilation department.

He gained his mining experience working in the mining and ventilation departments, in areas with the greatest natural hazards, with co-existing methane, rock and fire hazards, leading teams. Subsequently, he worked at the Murcki-Staszic mine in the Mining Services Department, where he was responsible for supervising and conducting de-methanation and pit bolting. Since April 2017, he has been working at the Head Office of the Polish Mining Group, currently in the Production, Deposit Management and Natural Hazards Office, where he is the Head of the Natural Hazards Team, supervising the processes of identifying and combating natural hazards in mines. Co-initiator of the use of directional holes in the Mysłowice-Wesoła coal mine for conducting methane drainage.